IMPORTANCE OF CULTIVATION AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN EASTERN AFRICA

Although most people in the sub-region are involved in subsistence agriculture,
commercial agriculture is also an economic mainstay, contributing significantly
to employment, GDP and exports. In Burundi and Rwanda, for example, more than
90 per cent of the workforce have been employed in agriculture for the past
three decades (World Bank 2001). In Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, rates
of employment in this sector have been between 80 and 95 per cent (World Bank
2001). The main crops are: bananas; beans; cassava; coffee; cotton; maize; millet;
rice; sesame; sisal; sorghum; sugar; tea; and wheat. Economic contributions
from agriculture have been significant over the past 30 years, including an
average of 45 per cent of GDP in Burundi, Ethiopia and Uganda, and 21 per cent
of GDP in Kenya (World Bank 2001). The value of agricultural exports from the
sub-region is also substantial, reaching US$526 million in Ethiopia and US$1157
million in Kenya during 1997 (World Bank 2001). Considering that these are among
the poorest countries in the world, the value of agriculture, and the precariousness
of depending on so few rain-fed crops, cannot be underestimated.

EXTENT AND PRODUCTIVITY OF CULTIVATION AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN
EASTERN AFRICA

The total area under cultivation has increased over the past three decades
for all countries, except for Burundi, which has experienced a slight decline
(FAOSTAT 2001). Food production has also climbed over the past 30 years, although
with considerable inter-annual variation. However, population growth has exceeded
increases in production. The drier countries in the Horn of Africa, where climatic
variation and drought are more common, show the greatest overall decline in
per capita food production, and the greatest variation between years, as shown
in Figure 2f.8 and Figure 2f.9.

This has resulted in declining food security, and decreased per capita food
intake. Daily per capita calorie intake in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi
was less in 1997 than in 1970 and, in Ethiopia, almost 50 per cent of the population
is undernourished (UNDP 2000, FAO 2001c). Over the same period, there were declines
in per capita supply of protein and fats in the same countries (UNDP 2000).
Malnutrition is also of serious concern, and deficiencies in iodine and vitamin
A are common among children below the age of six years in Ethiopia (FAO 2001c).

Declining per capita food production and per capita food intake is causing
the countries of eastern Africa to become more and more dependent on food imports
and food aid. For example, Ethiopia has been a food-deficit country for several
decades, and average cereal food aid during the period 1984-99 was 14 per cent
of total cereal production (FAO/AGL 2000). These severe droughts and food shortages
catalysed the need for a drought monitoring facility for eastern and southern
Africa. In March 1985, the leaders of the meteorological centres of the region
met in Nairobi, and agreed to establish the present Drought Monitoring Centres
(DMCs) in Nairobi (Kenya) and Harare (Zimbabwe), within the respective meteorological
departments. The main objective of the Drought Monitoring Centres is to provide
early warning of drought, based on meteorological information, thus preparing
countries and alleviating the devastating impacts of drought. A regional project,
'Drought Monitoring for Eastern and Southern Africa', was set up in January
1989, with 21 participating countries, namely: Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros;
Djibouti; Ethiopia; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritius; Mozambique;
Rwanda; Seychelles; Somalia; Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; and
Zimbabwe. The second phase of the project included Eritrea, Namibia and South
Africa (DMC 2002). Other responses include the United Nations Inter-Agency Task
Force strategy for improving food security, which focuses on the underlying
causes of chronic food insecurity in the seven countries. It proposes diversification
of livelihoods away from the traditional dependence on agriculture, as well
as means of enhancing resilience to climatic variation within agricultural practices.
Macro issues, such as market reforms, improving access to trade and information,
and environmental protection, are also central to the strategy (UN 2000).

Figure 2f.8: Crop production indices for Eastern Africa,
1970-2000 (total and per capita)

Source: compiled from FAOSTAT 2001

Figure 2f.9: Livestock production indices for Eastern Africa,
1970-2000 (total and per capita)